BANK OF HOPE LPGA MATCH-PLAY

May 25, 2022

Gaby Lopez

Shadow Creek

Quick Quotes

Q. Hello. Here with Gaby Lopez at the Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play presented by MGM Rewards. Day one and you came off with a big win over Chella Choi. Tell me, how does it feel?

GABY LOPEZ: Great. It was a little bit uncertain what was going to happen. I took a month off. I had a little injury back home, so I just decided to rest it, and just never know what's golf going to present to you.

Yeah, felt great out there. My caddie did an amazing job. My physio, everyone on my team, my coach at home. I feel that the hard work that you put in sometimes in the middle of the season even pays off.

Q. I know having an injury is hard. What did you do in that time to keep yourself preoccupied? What kind of stuff were you doing to get back on the course?

GABY LOPEZ: To me it's just being able to chill at home. Sometimes we just get caught up so much into the bubble of golf and you are so drawn into what are you doing wrong and what do you need to improve.

Sometimes just taking some time off kind of fixes everything, and being able to rest, being able to sleep better. Just take care of myself other than golf first.

I feel that sometimes we don't take at that time and I've learned through seven seasons that it's as important as practicing your putting or sleeping good.

Q. Do you mind telling us the nature of your injury? Back? Leg?

GABY LOPEZ: Yeah, it's been my back and my neck. I actually play on tour for three weeks with pain. I was just pushing through and I told my caddie that I needed to fully rest. Got an MRI and the doctor said that I totally needed to stop.

Yeah, I feel that sometimes when you're physically not the best, mentally you're not strong enough as well. So being able to balance that out helps.

Q. And so coming off of an injury, this is your first tournament back, yes?

GABY LOPEZ: Yeah.

Q. How does it feel to come out with a win? Took the lead early.

GABY LOPEZ: Yeah, it was a solid round. I hit great shots. My putting was really good. I think the course is going to get tougher and tougher as the week goes by. It's going to dry out and it's going to release and being able to keep the same game plan over and over again, respecting the pin positions and being able to know when to attack and when to really take your medicine, it's important.

Yeah, I feel great out there. Hitting beautiful drives and iron shots, so I'm happy to be back.

Q. Was putting something you were able to work on while you were taking time off?

GABY LOPEZ: It was actually the one thing that I had to do at the last moment. Putting sometimes can put a lot of the tension on your upper back and neck, so I was really excited to putt because I love putting.

But, yeah, I needed to do that at the very last of my recovery. Sometimes also I think that helps, being able to try different putters and then come back to yours. Kind of forget to remember your little feelings when you connect to a putter.

Q. So how do you find the competition today? Obviously Chella is a good player. Do you guys chat at all?

GABY LOPEZ: Yeah, she's a fantastic player. She's one of those players that you can't really expect her to miss. She's just like a little machine out there. This golf course I think sets up really well for me on the par-5s, being able to attack them, being able to just kind of take advantage of those par-5s with birdies and eagles.

I think that's fun. Yeah, I feel that there is no small competitor out here and match play is almost like a toss of coin, a coin toss, and you never know what's going to happen.

One golf round doesn't define any player out here, so...

Q. With the conditions, I know it's a little hot. Are you happy to be done early?

GABY LOPEZ: Yeah, for sure being able to rest a little bit more. I feel that this golf course, Shadow Creek, is a perfect condition-wise that we want to play before a major championship, before the U.S. Women's Open.

It's going to play firm, it's going to play fast, it's going to play hard off the rough. So being able to take this as a preparation for next week is great. I'm really thankful for Bank of Hope, MGM, and Shadow Creek to put this amazing golf course in unbelievable conditions.

And hands up for the maintenance crew and the kitchen, which they're all Hispanic and Latin and I'm really happy to have them around.

Q. Just a couple quick. What would you say is the best part: getting a win? Playing really well? Or getting off the course before noon?

GABY LOPEZ: I'm going to say probably just having a pain-free round. To me, I was struggling last couple three weeks on tour and just being able to just kind of feel nothing in my neck and knowing that when I'm healthy enough I can hit ball exactly how I want it.

Just trying to keep good rhythm out there and good momentum for the week.

Q. And I know it doesn't affect you today since you got off so early, but you played last year. What do you think of the switch of 9 and 18?

GABY LOPEZ: I love it. I think that this setup is actually even better for us because we all want to play 9, which is originally 18, because it's such a fun par-5. You got to hit a beautiful drive.

And then we don't really often have iron shots into par-5s and being able to attack with an 8-iron today, and make the putt, and I feel that that just brings up confidence and I feel that it just shows how much of the women's side can also show on the par-5s when you take advantage of that.

We see a lot of par-5s on the PGA Tour and they have an iron shot into the Par-5 and we barely have that. So being able to attack those par-5s with an iron shot and being able to present the spectators and TV some eagles, it just shows how good we are as well.

Q. So you hit driver 8-iron there?

GABY LOPEZ: I hit driver 8-iron.

Q. Wow. That's pretty amazing.

GABY LOPEZ: Yeah, it gets fun when you have an eagle opportunity out there.

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